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In Your Words: For My Grandchildren and Their Future

Sen. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are often asked why they founded the Campaign to Fix the Debt.

“Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren are not responsible for our current fiscal quandary, and they should not be saddled with the task of correcting our generation’s errors.”

Many parents and grandparents across the country agree. In a recent article on Huffington Post, Catherine New explores the imminent impact of the fiscal cliff on families and household spending.

Kids don't understand adult phrases like "fiscal cliff." What they understand is that mom says no extra milk on the cereal or no second helpings of meat at dinner.

New notes that the slated federal tax increases probably won't "amount to a huge chunk of change" for most families. But she cautions that if tax hikes are "combined with increasing state and local taxes, rising health insurance costs, flat wages and -- perhaps most painfully -- the rising price of food, working middle-class Americans could be hit hard."

However, if Congress comes together to stabilize the budget now, it will not only stop the crisis from worsening, it will provide young Americans with the financial freedom to address needs we cannot even currently anticipate and maintain our country’s high standard of living.

As another concerned grandparent tells us, it's unfair to kick the debt can down the road. Our children and grandchildren deserve the same opportunities enjoyed by those who came before them.